What he actually heard was two gunshots fired at his dog, Chase, an Akita-rottweiler mix, after he was approached by a Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety officer investigating a breaking and entering call across the street.

"I stepped out on my back porch and I could see the smoke from the gun," Pook said.

The dog was injured in both hind legs, requiring 21 stitches in one leg and a drainage tube for fluid in the other. Pook said he paid more than $1,000 for surgery and an overnight stay for Chase at the veterinarian's office.

Pook was packing up to leave for the afternoon at around 3 p.m. when the officer knocked on the front door and came around to the side of the house.

Pook thinks the officer may have gotten scared when the dog came around the corner of the house.

"We did have an officer that shot a dog that was attacking him," said Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety Capt. Brian Uridge.

"The case shows that the officer acted within departmental policy and responded appropriately," Uridge said.

He noted that the way the officer was canvassing the area for possible witnesses to the break-in was standard procedure.

The officer's name is being withheld as the case remains under investigation, according to Interim Assistant Chief Pat Wright. He said there would be no adminstrative leave for the officer, since the shooting involved an animal.

Pook was puzzled as to why such force was necessary in the incident.

"The officer didn't try any verbal commands or anything," according to Pook.

When Pook asked the officers why the dog was shot, he said he was told they could not comment on the incident until an investigation was complete.

Public Safety officers confiscated a surveillance tape Pook had of the incident. Pook said he has cameras around the exterior of his home because of break-ins and drug trafficking in the area.

Pook said Chase wasn't acting out of character when the incident occurred.

"He's my dog and warns me when people come," Pook said. "He wasn't snarling or anything. He's a good dog."